This invention relates to a bird-deterring device and more particularly to such a device for preventing birds from nesting or roosting on an upwardly facing horizontal surface, such as a window sill, a window ledge, a roof or other projection of a building.
The prior art suggests a number of techniques for performing this general function. A patentability search on the disclosure hereof has revealed the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date Inventor ______________________________________ 2,142,371 January 3, 1939 Peles 2,485,148 October 18, 1949 Fralin 3,148,417 September 15, 1964 Bellas 3,416,266 December 17, 1968 Eron 3,436,882 April 8, 1969 Keefe 4,937,988 July 3, 1990 Gratton ______________________________________
The patents to Fralin and Bellas seem to be representative of the cited patents.
Fralin presents an antiroosting device comprising a rectangular rotatable wire frame formed of a strand of wire. The frame has a first straight side, and angled end portions and the wire ends are twisted together to form a second straight side parallel to the first side, with aligned journal loops at the angled portions. Journal brackets are provided for mounting on a building and carry aligned rods extending through the journal loops. The theory is that a bird intending to roost on the device will attempt to perch on one of the straight sides and the weight of the bird will cause the frame to rotate, distracting the bird and causing it to leave.
Bellas discloses a bird-proofing device applicable to ledges, sills and the like of buildings to protect same against birds. The Bellas device includes a plurality of taut, substantially parallel strands supported by suitable brackets and retained in a three-dimensional spacing pattern, to prevent birds such as pigeons, crows, sea gulls or the like from alighting on a ledge, sill or the like on which the device is mounted.
The prior art devices, including particularly Fralin and Bellas, are somewhat cumbersome to set up and may be quite inefficient in terms of providing coverage of a desired area, such as a projection which may be quite large.
Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide an improved bird-deterring device for preventing birds from nesting or roosting in undesirable places.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a bird-deterring device which is of simple construction and easy to set up.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a bird-deterring device of increased efficiency in terms of providing effective coverage of a desired generally horizontal area of a building.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a bird-deterring device which will not harm birds in any way.
The manner in which a bird-deterring device according to the invention functions in attaining the foregoing objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.